<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>The Systematic Destruction of Steve Rogers by Miss_Fallen</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29328156">The Systematic Destruction of Steve Rogers</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Miss_Fallen/pseuds/Miss_Fallen'>Miss_Fallen</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Captain America - All Media Types</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Character Study, I love my son, My OC makes a reappearance, Not Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Compliant, Steve Rogers Feels, Steve Rogers Needs a Hug, Steve Rogers and the 21st Century, Steve Rogers is not naive</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-02-10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-02-10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 10:55:52</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,151</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29328156</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Miss_Fallen/pseuds/Miss_Fallen</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>A character study on Steve Rogers from the perspective of a random reporter.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>26</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>The Systematic Destruction of Steve Rogers</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span class="u"> <b> <em>The Systematic Destruction of Steve Rogers</em> </b> </span>
</p>
<p>
  <strong>By Damien Kent</strong>
</p>
<p>We all know who Captain America is. Nowadays, it’s more who he <em>was </em>than who he is. This article, however, isn’t about Captain America. It’s about the man behind the cowl, the man who has died and come back at the world’s beck and call, Steve Rogers.</p>
<p>We learn about him in school. Steve Rogers grew up the sickly son of a single mother who worked as a nurse. He was chosen for Project Rebirth, the project that would give him the robust, superhuman body that allows him to take down the Nazi party. We learn the captain’s accomplishments in WW2 and that in 1945 he puts down the Valkyrie in the Arctic ocean to save the US from significant bombing. The bombs aboard the plane had enough firepower to level the country if he hadn’t downed it. And from there on, his image is used to push different political agendas. “Captain America would want women at home with the kids,” or “Captain America backs so and so political figure.” </p>
<p>We don’t know if any of it is true. We don’t know if Steve Rogers would have backed any of the things they said he did. His life before Project Rebirth isn’t well known. Anything we might know is from his belongings found in the tenement he shared with Howling Commando Seargent James Buchanan “Bucky” Barnes. We all know Barnes is the only other on their team to lose his life in service. But this is about Steve Rogers, not James Barnes. </p>
<p>Rogers had a long list of medical disorders, many of which should have killed him as a child or teenager with the level of medical knowledge they had at the time. He pressed through despite it all. Many of his fellow soldiers, coworkers, and neighbors have said, “he’s as stubborn as they come. He’ll look death in the face and say, ‘Not today.’” It’s a remarkable trait. But so is the other characteristic they all said he had, his ability to know the world is cruel and still see the good; to show kindness. One of his neighbors said in an interview, “That boy is <em>good</em>. He doesn’t care for the bullies of the world, never has and never will. To him, it doesn’t matter where that bully’s from; he’ll do his best to kick their ass. Not that it ever worked when he was tiny. That Barnes boy always bailed him out.”</p>
<p>So what we know of Steve Rogers boils down to two things. He’s stubborn, and he’s kind. Those two characteristics don’t often go together, but they would make sense for the man who would make Captain America. </p>
<p>Fast forward to 2012, and he’s found alive in the ice. It must have something to do with his serum because that would kill anyone else. He comes out of the ice and learns decades have passed since he went down. He learns everyone he knows is dead, and the world has erased Steve Rogers in favor of Captain America. A few weeks later, aliens come through a portal, and the world knows Captain America is back. The world asks for more.</p>
<p>We see him save the world time and time again. He’s always rushing into battle, rushing to save people. It’s admirable, considering he doesn’t know anyone or anything in this new time. Steve Rogers has no adjustment period before the world asks for Captain America back. And Steve Rogers answers that call, a call that we wouldn’t ask anyone else to answer. But he’s Captain America; he can handle it. The serum made his body near-infallible; why not his mind? Right?</p>
<p>For years he does. Then HYDRA comes out of SHIELD, and his best friend got brainwashed to work for them like a puppet. Now Steve Rogers starts to shine through more than Captain America. He refuses to kill James Barnes, and Barnes vanishes for years while Rogers searches for him. We were mad at him for that. How dare he go after someone who’s killed so many innocent people. A person who worked for terrorists. We didn’t know the whole story then, and as much as I’d like to say we’d think differently if we did, I don’t believe we would have.</p>
<p>After that, Sokovia happens, Ultron happens. The Accords happen. Looking back now, believing the Accords went through is appalling. They violated the Geneva Conventions and the US constitution. Steve Rogers shines through again here. He refuses to sign them, to hand over a man who remained a prisoner of war for longer than Steve spent frozen in the ice. It creates a split in the team that saved the world time and time over. </p>
<p>Fast forward to another alien invasion, and the split almost costs the world. It doesn’t, but it’s a near thing. And soon after, Captain America vanishes.</p>
<p>It leaves everyone confused. Nobody knows where he went. The confusion turns to anger and hatred of him for leaving us. We felt entitled to him like he was ours to use as we pleased.</p>
<p>He isn’t and never was.</p>
<p>Through his time spent in our present, we took Steve Rogers and pulled him in every possible direction. We used him for our ends and goals and ignored the human being behind the cowl. We never thought what Steve Rogers might think, what he might want. We just wanted Captain America.</p>
<p>From Steve Rogers’ first breath, the world has tried to crush him and put him down. But Steve Rogers is stubborn, and he is kind. He takes everything the world throws at him and stands despite it all. The world tries to make him cruel and angry, and he stays kind. The efforts of the world only tripled after he took on the mantle of Captain America. And he still stands despite the weight on his shoulders.</p>
<p>In the end, Steve Rogers’ real enemy wasn’t the bad guys he fought; it was the people he saved and served. The people he kept safe destroyed him. We took his kindness and turned it into a sword for him to fall on. We asked for more than anyone should ever have asked of someone, and we expected him to provide all that and more. Steve Rogers died while still having a beating heart for us, and we said we needed more.</p>
<p>I’m glad he vanished if I’m honest. We never thought of Steve Rogers; we only thought of Captain America. Captain America is a symbol, a character; he doesn’t exist the way you or I do. Steve Rogers, however, he’s a living, breathing human being. And we told him we don’t care about him. We only care about when he can do for us as Captain America.</p>
<p>So Steve, if you’re still alive and you see this, I hope you’re finally getting the chance to <em>live</em>.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>So this started in my discord server trying to help someone else get past their writer block. It spiraled a bit into talking about Steve and what making Captain America did to him. I went, "well, I have to write this now," and wrote it. </p>
<p>I'm also marking it as complete for now, but I might add a chapter of Steve and Bucky seeing the article and their reaction to it. </p>
<p>(And if you recognize Damien, he's from my whump series. He was supposed to be a one-off character, and then I decided I love him, so he's staying now.)</p></blockquote></div></div>
</body>
</html>